Diamond in the rough? or Demon in the Desert?

[larryd]

I found a neglected 450sel for $600 (U.S). Body and interior look very good. The automobile has about 195K. It was driven about 500 miles to it's new home in the high desert of California five years ago. The owner says everything worked, ac, sunroof, all windows (except one). He put new front brakes on it back then. It has been sitting un-driven since then. He says he start ???ed it up 2 years ago, but sitting since then.

Other than a new battery and tires to get it home, what other problems should I anticipate with this diamond in the rough?

[jsilvidi]

I just bought my 450sel back in march. it sat four 13 years or so and the only thing I am getting done on the car is new tie rods and a streering shock.

[thysonsacclaim]

Make sure to put some good gas in it. Not cheap stuff. 93 octane. I don't generally promote any particular gasoline... but if you can, put in something with good detergents in it (ie Shell, Chevron, Exxon/Mobil). Cheaper brands often do not have any or have very few. I would top it off, as well. The more you put in, the more diluted the old gas is. Sitting for a while, the old gas could be cruddy or have some moisture in it.

If you wanted to get really wild, put some injector cleaner in it as well or a water displacement additive. They make quite a few and I haven't seen any in the US with methanol in them, which you'll want to avoid. If you're driving it back, a full tank of good gas and injector cleaner should help loosen and dilute any crud that has built up.

Soon as you can change the fluids, filters, etc. and it should be good to go unless you find something else. Depending how hot and dry the climate is, you'll want to inspect the rubber. Hoses particularly.

Seems a good buy.

[larryd]

Thanks for the feed back. It seems like a good deal to me as well. I have a 1980 300sd that I am restoring, so I guess worse case senerio, at least most body parts would inter-change with the SD.

Would the transmissions be inter-changable?

[thysonsacclaim]

Wish I could answer that. Best to divert it to someone with more technical knowledge and mechanical experience in that realm. I haven't even seen anything to do with my transmisson besdes the torque converter and pan!

I do know there is some degree of interchangeability. However, even if it does bolt up, it may not be a good pairing for the motor. Wish I knew =/

[flutes]

Transmission isn't interchangeable.  The 450 used a 3 speed auto, the 300SD used a 4 speed which I assume was the same as that used in the 280.  They could probably be transplanted but you'd probably struggle to get off the mark!

The links down the bottom of the page have the specs for each of the models where you can see the gearing ratios.

[larryd]

Thanks I verified that in my Chiltons manual. How about the interchanability of the 1978-1980 300sd transmission (W4B 025) with the 1981-1983 ENGINE that used a transmission (W4A 040).

Any one familiar with that match? Or have you tried it?

[larryd]

Oh ! Sorry !That 1981-1983 ENGINE is also a 300sd